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개천에서 용 났다. (gaecheon-eseo yong nassda) This is said especially when a great man emerged out of the most unlikely background. This literally means that a dragon has emerged out of a brook. That is, what appears so unlikely happened strikingly in reality. It also suggests that a long river can be an analogy, embodiment, or at least birthplace of a dragon.

이 논엔 용이 올라갔다. (i non-en yong-i ollagassda.) (The bold-faced idiom literally means "the dragon has risen".) There is no water in this paddy.